A trio of lonely, middle-aged American women finds their growing disillusionment with stateside men leading them to seek emotional comfort and sexual gratification in the arms of young Haitian man in Time Out director Laurent Cantet's emotionally incisive adaptation of Haitian-Canadian author Dany Laferrière's acclaimed short stories. Competing for the attentions of beautiful young Haitian native Legba (Ménothy Cesar) are 55-year-old Wellesley professor Ellen (Charlotte Rampling), sexually
frustrated Canadian factory worker Sue (Louise Portal), and fortysomething Georgia blonde Brenda (Karen Young). The Hotel Petite Anse is a haven for older women seeking the companionship of younger men, and doyenne Ellen has come to establish herself as something of the queen bee of the popular island establishment. Despite the constant threat of Baby Doc Duvalier's thuggish henchmen, these lonely women risk their livelihoods to bask under the sun and forget the troubles of their daily lives as the line between exploiter and exploited becomes increasingly blurred. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Exploring female desire in a way films rarely do, Heading South is a film of sometimes subtle, sometimes blunt metaphors for the interaction of rich and pauperized countries.
A trio of middle-aged white women from different backgrounds relish the tropical pleasures of '70s era Haiti, which includes local teenage gigolos, in writer/director Laurent Cantet's problematic filmic adaptation of three short stories by Dany Laferriere
Una película lúcida y algo desconcertante sobre los deseos y fantasías de un trío de mujeres en vacaciones, con el trasfondo de la dura realidad haitiana del régimen de Duvalier.
This fascinating flick, using physical desire as a metaphor, examines political problems plaguing Haiti in the Seventies while simultaneously exploring pleasure purely from an older woman's point-of-view.
This fascinating flick, using physical desire as a metaphor, examines political problems plaguing Haiti in the Seventies while simultaneously exploring pleasure purely from an older woman's point-of-view.
Strong performances help balance out a sometimes slow moving plot in this serious drama. There's not a lot of extras on the DVD but the film itself is worth a gander.
"Heading South" takes place in Haiti in the late 1970's where Brenda(Karen Young), a 48 year-old woman, returns after a visit three years previously where she enjoyed a tryst with a Haitian boy, Legba(Mentothy Cesar), and enjoyed her first orgasm. She stays at the same hotel and meets him again but is unpleasantly
surprised to find Ellen(Charlotte Rampling), a 55 year-old professor, holding court. Ellen has spent the previous six summers at the same hotel to pay for sex with the young Haitian men who hang out at the beach. And she is not the only one..."Heading South" is an ambiguous and matter-of-fact movie about the controversial subject of sex tourism. Had the American characters been men, then they would have been much less sympathetic. Here they are middle-aged women in the midst of the sexual revolution just before AIDS decimates Haiti. They are exploring their sexuality in a way that would have been impossible back home. They are balanced with the young Haitian men who engage with the women in an attempt to escape their desperate lives of poverty and repression under the brutal Duvalier regime.
July 24, 2006
Walter M.
Super Reviewer
even the high calaber actresses like rampling can't save this one from being nothing more than "exotic" soft core porn, very disappointed with this one.
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